Inquest hearing into the murder of Nigerian student, Kennedy Taomwabwa Dede to begin on September, 27

First hearing into the brutal murder of Nigerian student, Kennedy Taomwabwa Dede, who was kidnapped, beaten and killed by a gang of 7 on, January, 29 will begin on September, 27.

The accused were brought to court on Wednesday for the commencement of hearing into the murder accusation brought against them.

Kennedy Taomwabwa Dede, 28 an Architecture student at the Eastern Mediterranean University in Magusa was kidnapped by 7 gang members on January, 29 from his resident in Famagusta and taken to the Çanakkale lake in the outskirt of the city where he was seriously beaten and killed.

His body was left half naked in the Çanakkale Pond with half his body in the lake and the other half outside.

Kennedy's body found on the Çanakkale pond

Following the incident, 7 suspects namely; Ozan Korkurt, 18, Zekeriya Founder, 22, Burcu Çelik, 16, Onur Körkurt, 21, Simge Dağdur, 28, Aydan Sel and Nidai Şanlı, 28 were arrested in connection with the murder and charged to court in Lefkosa for murder, human abduction and serious assault.

Police investigation later revealed that Kennedy was murdered over 1000TL loan. During the investigation, police said they gathered over 190 statements and testimonies, retrieved deleted messages and screened 142 phone conversations.

Two of the accused, Zanlılar Aydan Sel and Burcu Çelik were released on bail following weeks of court appearance and ordered to pay a bond over the case of negligence brought against them for not preventing such a serious crime.

Five other accused, Nidai Sanli, Ozan Korkurt, Onur Körkurt, Simge Dağdur and Zekeriya Kurucu, who have been standing trial in court and imprisoned for months, denied the accusations brought against them.

The ring leader, Nidai Sanli, and four other accused were brought to court on Wednesday under tight security. He has been in a separate cell from the others.

On how he was killed -
He was beaten up for not paying for the drug substance he had bought to sell. The suspects took Kennedy to the meeting area at the Çanakkale Pond and according to him, they did not intend to kill him. He said they hit him on the head but Kennedy could not withstand it as it was pretty intense and gave up the ghost.

At that time, the incident was being recorded on a phone by Aydin Sel who told and sent the video to somebody who then reported the matter to the police.

When Aydan Sel found out that the police were looking for him, he tried to escape to south Cyprus where he was caught by the police.

Nigerian students protest his killing in Famagusta

His death caused great tension and unrest in the region for more than two weeks with series of protest organized by students demanding justice.

Kennedy representing EMU in a sporting event

Before his untimely death, Kennedy was an Architecture student at the Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta and has represented and won medals for the university in several sporting events.